James Brown Trivia

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Voted the tenth greatest singer of the rock era in a Rolling Stone magazine poll in 2008. (imdb.com)

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000. (imdb.com)

One of the personalities mentioned in the song "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club. The others were Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Hamilton Bohannon, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Lowell `Sly` Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare (as Sly and Robbie), and Kurtis Blow. (imdb.com)

He was diagnosed with heart disease in 2003. (imdb.com)

Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. [14 November 2006] (imdb.com)

Performed at President Richard Nixon`s first inauguration on 30 January 1969. (imdb.com)

Portions of James Brown`s funeral services in Augusta, GA were shown live on CNN. (imdb.com)

Due to the timing of Brown`s death, there were no flights out of Atlanta to fly Brown`s body up to New York for a public viewing at the Apollo Theater. The funeral director and Al Sharpton opted to drive Brown`s body from Atlanta to New York, instead. (imdb.com)

Life-long friend of Little Richard, since they were both teenagers. (imdb.com)

Was planning on singing at B.B. King`s blues club in New York on New Year`s Eve a week before he died. (imdb.com)

Got his start in music singing with Bobby Byrd`s group the Famous Flames. (imdb.com)

His funeral was officiated by his good friend, Rev. Al Sharpton. (imdb.com)

Good friends with Rev. Al Sharpton since the 1970s and Rev. Jesse Jackson since the 1950s. (imdb.com)

Brown`s hit singles like "Say It Loud (I`m Black and I`m Proud)" and "Funky President" galvanized black youth during the turbulent `70`s. (imdb.com)

Often called the most sampled man in Hip-Hop music. The list of artists that sampled Brown ranged from Jay-Z to Eric B. & Rakim to Public Enemy. (imdb.com)

Rev. Jesse Jackson regularly visited Brown while he served time for leading the police on a car chase and other various offenses in South Carolina in 1988. (imdb.com)

Insisted on using the title Mr. or Ms. for everyone in his band. He felt it was a sign of respect if people called each other by their proper title. (imdb.com)

In live shows, Brown would sometimes add the "I got ya" lyric in a song when he caught a musician making a mistake. (imdb.com)

Coordinated his dance moves to lead his band. Each movement was actually an instruction to the band. (imdb.com)

Some of his most popular songs include "Please, Please, Please" (1958), "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (1965), "It`s A Man`s Man`s Man`s World" (1966), "Cold Sweat" (1967), "I Got The Feelin`" (1968), "Get Up (I Like Being A) Sex Machine" (1970) and "Living in America" (1985). (imdb.com)

Record holder for the artist who has charted most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 without ever reaching #1 at that chart. (imdb.com)

Lived in Beeach Island, South Carolina at the time of his death. (imdb.com)

Augusta`s 9th street was renamed "James Brown Boulevard" by the city`s mayor Charles DeVaney (11 November 1993). (imdb.com)

Receiving a Grammy three times prior (1965: "Papa`s Got a Brand New Bag" as "Best R&B Recording, 1986 for "Living In America" as "Best Male R&B Performance" and 1991 for "Star Times" as "Best Album Notes"), he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards (25 February 1992). (imdb.com)

US Secretary of State General Colin Powell appointed Brown to be the first US "secretary of soul and foreign minister of funk", but said the job description for the post had not yet been drawn up. (December 2003). (imdb.com)

In 2003 South Carolina granted him pardons for seven criminal convictions, some involving guns and drugs, over a 10-year period. (imdb.com)

A life-size bronze statue of Brown was unveiled in his honor by the Reverend Al Sharpton in Augusta, east Georgia. The statue was supposed to be unveiled in May 2004, for Brown`s 71st birthday, but the city postponed the ceremony because the entertainer was facing domestic violence charges for pushing and threatening his wife, Tommy Rae Brown [7 May 2005]. (imdb.com)

Some radicals criticized him for his patriotism and he received death threats after playing to US troops in Vietnam in 1972. (imdb.com)

Dismayed by the school shootings of the late 1990s, he spoke out against violence in schools, even writing a song, "Killing`s Out and School`s In.". (imdb.com)

J. Anthony Lukas`s book on Boston race relations, "Common Ground", notes that a 1968 Brown performance the day after the Rev. Martin Luther King`s assassination helped keep the Massachusetts city from exploding. (imdb.com)

Was a friend of Elvis Presley. (imdb.com)

Underwent surgery for prostate cancer in December 2004. (imdb.com)

In 1991, the Techno group L.A. Style released a highly irreverent and controversial single entitled "James Brown Is Dead". There were two songs quickly made in response: "James Brown Is Still Alive" by Holy Noise, and "Who the F*** Is James Brown?" by Traumatic Stress. (imdb.com)

He was voted the 7th Greatest Rock `n` Roll Artist of all time by Entertainment Weekly. (imdb.com)

28 January 2004 - Arrested for allegedly pushing his wife at their South Carolina home. Brown later filed for an annulment of their marriage. (imdb.com)

One of 5 recipients of the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors; other recipients were Carol Burnett, Loretta Lynn, Mike Nicholsand Itzhak Perlman. (imdb.com)

Charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. (imdb.com)

Son, with girlfriend Tommy Rae Brown, James Brown II, was born. [11 June 2001] (imdb.com)

He served 26 months in prison for leading police on a high speed chase in Georgia in 1988. (imdb.com)

His wife, Adrienne Rodriguez, charged him 4 times with felony assault. She died of heart failure following plastic surgery. (imdb.com)

Singer, songwriter, band leader and record producer. (imdb.com)

Released from hospital following treatment for addiction to painkillers. [January 1998] (imdb.com)

Married 4 times. (imdb.com)